July 24, 2012

The Quecreek Mine Disaster

Ten years ago today, 18 coal miners were working the Quecreek mine in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, when one of the crews of 9 breached a wall separating Quecreek from the adjacent flooded and abandoned Saxman mine. The other crew escaped from the quickly flooding mine, but their hapless colleagues had to retreat to high ground in the mine to avoid drowning.

Thus began a drama that would see the 9 miners safely rescued three days later. The rescue effort gripped the nation that July weekend in 2002. The terror attacks of the year before were still fresh in the minds of Americans, who sorely needed an inspiring story that ended happily.

Shortly after the rescue was effected, I began writing the poem below, in which I attempted to tell the complete story of the Quecreek mine accident and rescue. The poem went through a number of revisions to improve the poetry and verity of the poem.

On this tenth anniversary, it seems appropriate to reprint “The Quecreek Mine Disaster” here. You can also find the poem, along with a longer explanation of it on my Web site. That page includes a link to an earlier version of the poem.

This week, a number of events will celebrate the anniversary. More information can be found here.